Two high schools?

I’ve received information from two separate sources indicating selective calls were made to correct ballot signatures to get “Approve” votes prior to final count. Improper behavior by school board members and/or auditor’s office?

Will Moses Lake really benefit from two high schools? Won’t one school be perceived as better, even if the exact same set of classes is offered in each? Divide students, and neither school will have the ability to field the city’s best athletes on a single team. One former school bus driver advised, “two high schools could increase gang violence.”

It won’t just be additional construction costs if a second high school is built, but soon needed funding for additional maintenance, and greater staffing than required if all students are on one campus. We don’t know how community needs will change over the next four, or eight, years. Will home schooling, charter schools, or other potential changes alter projected needs? Given just technology changes, planning for twenty-plus years doesn’t make sense.

Least we forget, it’s really the student’s and parents’ responsibility to assure good education. Schools can’t force knowledge and wisdom into students. The students make their own choices to excel, or learn nothing.

To the school board: Void this tainted election. In the future, put two options on the ballot. Don’t keep offering only the most expensive option. Let the taxpayers decide. Option one: increase single high school capacity, and additional buildings as needed. Keep costs minimum. Option two: build a second high school. If both are approved, then a larger vote determines whether the city will have one or two high schools. If neither passes, then the state shall be required to pay for changes. In fact, that might be the best option; it is a state responsibility.

Thomas Fancher

Moses Lake